Page 63 of The Grizzly Situation
I was getting in too deep. I didn’t know what Brent had told them about their mother dying, and I didn’t want to be involved in the conversation.
“Momma got sick,” Brent said as he came in through the door. “Remember how you felt when you were sick? You had an icky tummy and you were so tired? That’s how it was for Momma.” He came to where we were and knelt down, puttinghis hand on my knee. “But boys, you have to remember. Uly isn’t Momma.”
“That is Momma!” the boys screamed, clutching me tighter. “She came back to us!”
Brent opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him. “Leave it be, okay? They’ll realize eventually, but for now just let them have this.”
There was pain in his eyes, and I realized how hard it had to be for him, the boys comparing me to his wife.
He reached out and cupped my cheek. “She would have absolutely loved you, just so you know. Anyone who gave attention to the boys earned high marks in her book. And no one has ever given of themselves the way you do. You’re kind, considerate, and respect their feelings and boundaries. You would make a great Momma.” He smiled. “If you weren’t, you know, not a woman.”
I stuck out my tongue, which made the boys giggle. “Momma is funny.”
Brent ignored them as he took my hand. He had to know how nervous I was by the way it was trembling. “Listen, are you up to going somewhere with me?”
“Sure.”
“We wanna come!” Jack exclaimed.
“No, this is for grownups. You can stay with Emily and Jake. They offered to sit with you until we got home. They’ll even watch Bluey with you.”
“No, we don’t want Bluey! We wanna go with Momma!” they cried, clutching my arm tightly. “Please, Daddy?”
He was torn, I could tell. “Uly?”
Imagine my surprise he asked my opinion. Of course, as far as I was concerned there was only one acceptable answer. “I’m cool with it, if you are.”
“I had wanted it to be just us, but….”
He sighed. I understood wanting some time to ourselves, especially since we had so much to talk about, but the boys were dealing with the same situation and they had no one they could talk to about how Momma came back or any way to process their emotions.
“Hey, guys? Can you go grab your jackets?”
“Okay, Momma!” they shouted, then they rushed out of the room and down the hall.
“Look,” I said, turning my attention to Brent. “I am so sorry about how uncomfortable this must be for you, but the boys need to understand they’re not going to be left behind. They lost their mother, and that obviously devastated them. This whole thing about mates sharing a scent? That’s not right, man. You can smell me and know I’m not Jenna because you can see me and know it intellectually. The boys? This has to be messing with their heads. They saw their mother die, and now there’s someone who they think smells like her. They’re so uncertain right now, they’re trying to hold on to something familiar. We could go, but I think if we do, there will be two very angry and hurt kids here when we get back.”
If I thought he’d be upset, I was mistaken. He smiled at me, then gripped my hand in his, lacing our fingers together. “Thank you, Uly.”
“For what?”
“Keeping their needs in mind. I get wrapped up in my head sometimes, and it escapes me that even though they’re kids, they have big feelings and needs too. And you’re right. It’s not fair to them that they can pick up her scent on you. It makes sense that they’re confused. I’m not uncomfortable, though. I know who you are and I’m aware that you’re not Jenna. You’re Uly, who smells of chocolate cake and coffee.”
“And flowers?”
He gave a one-shoulder shrug. “The barest hint. I hadn’t really noticed until Chaim told me to sniff you. Yes, there are flowers, but that’s definitely not the first thing I noticed about you.” He leaned in next to my ear. “That would be your kindness, so you know. I could feel your hurt and upset, and it called to my bear to fix it, to make you smile. My bear might have noticed the scent, but it wasn’t what prompted him to respond.”
And knowing that made me feel a lot better.
“And that kiss? Mind. Blowing.”
I smirked and turned my head, meeting his lips. Was it fast? Yes, absolutely. But it felt right. All of our conversations, where he actually listened to me, validated me, showed me that I wasn’t broken, had me falling deeper in what I now know was love. Maybe there was something to this mate thing.
I couldn’t wait to find out.
BRENT
“Momma, look!”Jack cried into his headset as we flew over the gently rolling hills covered in blossoms, grass, and tiny trees.
